THE WALLABY TRACK WITH LIONEL MUSSELL

Someone had to die or retire before you could get advancement in the RAF in England back in my day . So many people , including ourselves , looked towards either Australia or Canada for a better future . Canada had no appeal for me , so we applied to Australia House and in due course were accepted for the ten-pound immigration scheme and , after farewells in Yorkshire and from my family down south , we found ourselves at Tilbury Docks waiting to board the old P & O Orontes .

We had thought to leave Murphy behind but it soon became obvious that he was taking a hand in the weather we encountered as soon as we sailed .

During the rough weather , when the Orontes rolled and pitched alarmingly , the stewards put ropes up in the corridors and ledges around the tables to prevent the sliding crockery from falling off . One lunchtime , we were alarmed by a particularly big lurch and we rushed back to our cabin to check on Jackie , who we had left in her cot . Our fears were well founded as Murphy had tipped her out of the cot and she finished up jammed under one of the bunks . Fortunately , she was unharmed .

When we arrived in Melbourne that bleak morning in 1959 , Murphy was already in residence . A friend lent me a Hillman to go for an Australian driving licence . Of course , I had studied the peculiar turning procedures used in some of Melbourne ’ s streets but putting it all into practice was another thing . Having passed the test , we set off for a look at the city and all went well until I decided to keep out of everyone ' s way by using the lefthand lane in Swanston Street . I should have remembered that lane was the right turn lane and so we found ourselves heading east along Flinders Street . A left turn at what must have been Russell Street , then another left , and we found ourselves driving back down Swanston Street in the opposite direction to the way we had intended !

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